Irish aviation company settles with CAB over Iran row.

Second time that Sligo firm has been indicted over violation US export law.

An Irish aviation country which was alleged to have been exporting helicopter and airplane parts to Iran has reached an agreement with Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

The company agreed to pay the CAB €1.5m, according to media reports.

Mac Aviation, of Drumcliffe, Co Sligo, was the company involved in the shady transactions, though full details of their trading or of their settlement with the CAB were not divulged in the High Court’s judgement yesterday.

The payments to the CAB are made under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996.

Last year, an indictment was made public in Washington alleging that Mac Aviation, owner Thomas McGuinn (73), of Cloonmull House, Drumcliffe, Co Sligo, his son and sales/procurement director Sean (41), and commercial manger Sean Byrne violated US laws restricting exports to Iran.

The indictment claimed that Mac Aviation had shipped some of the parts to an Iranian military firm, which the United States government believed to be "owned or controlled by entities involved in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme".

According to the US indictment the Irish firm purchased engine parts worth $4.27m (€3.2m) on behalf of the Iranian company.

The deal was concluded without any admission of civil or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the aviation firm.

A statement made public by the US Justice Department earlier this month said that: "The defendants caused these parts to be exported from the United States to third countries like Malaysia before causing them to be transshipped to Iran," the Justice Department said on July 7.